Multimedia streaming—the continuous delivery of synchronized media data like video, audio, text, and animation—is a critical link in the digital multimedia revolution. Today, streaming media is primarily about video and audio, but a richer, broader digital media era is emerging with a profound and growing impact on the Internet and digital broadcasting.
Synchronized media means multiple media objects that share a common timeline. Video and audio are examples of synchronized media—each is a separate data stream with its own data structure, but the two data streams are played back in synchronization with each other. Virtually any media type can have a timeline. For example, an image object can change like an animated .gif file, text can change and move, and animation and digital effects happen over time. This concept of synchronizing multiple media types is gaining greater meaning and currency with the emergence of more sophisticated media composition frameworks implied by MPEG-4, Dynamic HTML, and other media playback environments.
The term “streaming” is used to indicate that the data representing the various media types is provided over a network to a client computer on a real-time, as-needed basis, rather than being pre-delivered in its entirety before playback. Thus, the client computer renders streaming data as it is received from a network server, rather than waiting for an entire “file” to be delivered.
Streaming multimedia content enables a variety of informational content that was not previously available over the Internet or other computer networks. Live content is one significant example of such content. Using streaming multimedia, audio, video, or audio/visual coverage of noteworthy events can be broadcast over the Internet as the events unfold. Similarly, television and radio stations can transmit their live content over the Internet.
However, one current problem with streaming multimedia content is that users are typically limited to accessing the multimedia content via common “shuttle controls” on a multimedia player, such as a play button, fast forward button, pause button, etc. Given that large amounts of data can be stored as multimedia content (e.g., individual presentations lasting for hours), such controls make it difficult for a user to locate the portions of the multimedia content that are of most interest to him or her.
An additional problem with streaming multimedia content is that the user must typically be connected to the same network as the server (e.g., the Internet) in order to receive the streaming multimedia content. If this connection is not maintained then the streaming of the multimedia content stops. This “continuous connection” limitation can be troublesome for many individuals, such as those using portable computers in locations that may not always have access to the appropriate network, or individuals who do not want to tie up a telephone line for their network connection while playing back the multimedia content.
The invention described below addresses these disadvantages, providing for the searching and recording of streaming media content.